Vegan Buffalo Deli Turkey

I make a lot of seitan based vegan meats.

I have recipes for a holiday roast, holiday turkey style breast with crispy skin, chicken breast, pastrami, brisket, and even pepperoni. But until I made our original deli turkey I had never added tofu to the mix.

If there was ever a sandwich I missed since going vegan it is a regular old turkey sandwich. I used to love a good deli carved turkey sandwich more than almost anything. So I decided I would try to add tofu to my regular turkey style breast recipe to see if I could get it to a more deli sliced texture.

Y’all, the answer is YES! I have seen other people adding tofu to seitan recipes, and obviously Tofurkey lunch slices are a mix of tofu and vital wheat gluten so I decided to give it a go. It only took one experiment and it came out pretty perfect the first time. I was elated.

Even my husband who normally passes on vital wheat gluten recipes loves it! I was so excited that I made sandwiches to take to my Mah Jong group, i’m sure I have mentioned my Mah Jong group before. Y’all, side note: learn to play Mah Jong, it’s SO FUN!! Sorry back to the point of this! They were skeptical at first but everyone who tried it was floored and surprised by how good it was! Yay for my Mah Jong crew loving vegan meats!!

So after I created my original turkey recipe I have started playing with different rubs and spices. I am a sucker for any and all things buffalo and Franks Buffalo sauce is bought in bulk in this house. Why it took me so long to deicide to rub one of these bad boys down with some melted butter and Franks is beyond me but thank the heavens it finally occurred to me because OH MY GOSH, Y’ALL!!!!

If you are not into buffalo, check out our original deli sliced turkey recipe. Just as tasty but not spicy! But when the recipe tells you to LET IT REST IN THE FRIDGE, you have to muster all of your strength and patience and do as I say! You will not have the texture you want unless you “let the breast rest. “ So just cook it one night and let it sit in the fridge til the next day. And if you don’t let it rest and decide to dig right in, don’t message me and tell me it was not firm enough, not even joking.

So if you are missing some legit turkey but don’t want to eat an actual turkey, this is your answer! I promise, PROMISE, it will be worth your time and effort. Maybe just go ahead and make 2 at once!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 block extra firm high protein tofu (14oz -16oz block)

• 1/2-3/4 cups water

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil ( you can replace with water if you are oil free)

• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch

• 2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1-2 teaspoons garlic powder

• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 tablespoon No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any chicken-less bouillon cube or powder (if using cubes or powder just dissolve in with the water)

• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke

• 1 teaspoon salt optional if you feel like the bouillon is not salty enough

• For the coating: 3 tablespoons up to 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, 1 teaspoon melted vegan butter ( we used Franks Buffalo sauce, it is vegan), plus 1/2 teaspoon garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon onion salt

• A few teaspoons dried parsley (optional)

TROUBLESHOOTING THIS RECIPE:

*I used high protein tofu in a vacuum sealed package and this what I strongly advise using. It is much firmer than regular firm tofu and has less moisture and a more chewy texture. If you opt to use regular firm tofu you will need to press it first and remove as much liquid as possible. You may need to adjust the amount of water in the recipe as well. Add the water last, adding just enough to accomplish a firm dough.

• *If you find your turkey has A LOT OF LITTLE HOLES, and a more BREAD LIKE TEXTURE this can be caused from under kneading the dough, BUT more likely cooking the seitan at too high of a temperature, or for too long. Check your ovens temperature with an oven thermometer. Your oven may just be cooking hotter than it registers. Also gas and electric ovens tend to cook differently. If you do not have an oven thermometer you can reduce the heat in your oven by 25 degrees, and keep the seitan covered for 50 minutes and open for 10.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the buffalo sauce and parsley and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once you have a smooth but firm dough, remove it from the food processor and place on a clean counter. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute, forming a kind of oval shaped loaf with the dough.

4. Take a piece of aluminum for about 3x bigger than the loaf of dough, and lay it out flat. Coat the foil in spray oil or wipe it down with any oil you have. Mix the buffalo sauce, garlic, onion salt and butter in a small bowl. Pour half of the mixture in the center of the foil. Place the turkey on the foil and roll it around in the sauce. Sprinkle with dried parsley if you like. Pour the remaining sauce on top of the turkey. Seal up the foil nice and tight around the roast, twisting the ends. If you feel like the foil may leak then add a second piece tightly around the first.

5. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven on the middle rack. Bake sealed for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes carefully open up the foil, and continue baking for another 25-30 minutes.

6. Remove finished “turkey” breast and let cool at room temp. Seal the foil back up and place the “turkey” breast in the fridge over night to rest. This step is important to get the texture we are trying achieve. If you try and serve it before it rests it will not be nearly as firm.

7. Once the “turkey” breast has been in the fridge over night, you can remove it and slice it to serve. It should at this point be firm enough to slice using a mandolin or a sharp knife. Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Corned Beef

Vegan Salami

Vegan Turkey Breast with Crispy Skin

vegan flank steak

Vegan Boneless Buffalo Wings (seitan wings)

I have always been a fan of all things buffalo.

Pre-vegan and pre-vegetarian, boneless wings were my go to when we went out to eat.

I love, love, loved boneless buffalo wings with a big side of ranch dressing.

Over the years I have made different vegan variations of wings using an easy basic seitan recipe, and often crispy tofu.

None of the variations have been bad, but none have been and tasty as this version.

A while back I kind of perfected an easy vital wheat gluten/tofu chicken. By perfected, I just mean its perfect for me. You may disagree or have a recipe you like better, but this one is so super quick and easy, the texture is spot on, and the flavor is well, chicken like. So to me that is the perfect seitan chicken.

I has already used the recipe to make my kids fun shaped nuggets but hadn’t made wings with it yet.

I am often on autopilot so I had just kept making crispy tofu wings and never really thought to use the seitan chicken in its place, until recently.

Man am I a dummy sometime.

These vegan boneless wings are SOOOOOO FLIPPING GOOD!!!!!

I have given instructions for oil frying and air frying. Depending on the day and my mood, determines how I cook mine. Sometimes I pan fry them oil to free up my air fryer for French fries. Other times I don’t want to deal with the mess of the oil so forgo the fries and just make the wings in my air fryer.

If you choose to air fry them you will need to at least give them a spray of oil so they don’t stick to the fryer. If they stick the coating will rip off and nobody wants a naked wing..am I right?!?!

People often as if my oil fried recipes can be made in the air fryer so I just decided to try and give instructions for both methods.

No matter how you choose to fry these vegan buffalo wings, both methods will yield a super crispy, dippable, delicious wing! And really that was all I was ever looking in a vegan boneless wing.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vital wheat gluten

• 1 block super firm tofu (16 oz) the kind that is vacuum sealed in not much water

• 2 -3 teaspoons No Chicken Better Than Bouillon, or any vegan chicken flavored bouillon powder or seasoning

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1-2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 teaspoon all purpose greek seasoning or any all purpose seasoning you like

• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

• 2 tablespoons tapioca or corn starch

• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

• 2 tablespoon neural flavored oil

• 1/2 to 3/4 cups water (you might not need much water at all. Add a little at a time just until the dough comes together and is smooth)

• 1 teaspoons salt

COATING:

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup vegan yogurt or sour cream

• 1 cup unsweetened plant milk

• 1 and 1/2 cups vegan buffalo sauce (we used Franks) plus 2 teaspoons vegan butter

• Oil if you are choosing the pan fry method

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

1. Break up the tofu and place it into a food processor with the regular metal blade. Run the processor for around a minute until the tofu is broken down.

2. Add all of the remaining ingredients and let the food processor run for a couple of minutes. You want the mixture to form a dough. Letting the processor run will help knead the dough. We want this seitan to be firm so we need it to knead for a bit. If you dough seems a bit too dry, you can add another few tablespoons of water, just don’t add too much more! I start at 1/2 cup and work from there.

3. Once dough has come together, transfer to a clean counter top or cutting board. Press the dough out to a large 1/4 inch thick circle. Divide the circle into 4 pieces. Divide each of the 4 pieces into 8 pieces. You will get 32 nice sized vegan wings from the dough.

4. Shape the seitan pieces into a nugget shape. Just any ol blob like nugget shape will do. Don’t think too much about it!

5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the vegan wings out on the 2 pans and give them a spray or brush with some oil. Tightly cover each pan with foil. You need to make sure the pan is all sealed up so the seitan can steam inside will baking.

6. Bake the vegan wings for 25 minuets. Remove from oven and allow to cool some at room temperature before transferring to the fridge to rest for AT LEAST 3 HOURS. Seitan needs to rest for the texture to improve. Trust me, let those wings rest y’all!

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To coat wings, whisk the vegan sour cream or yogurt with 1 cup of plant milk in a medium sized bowl.

2. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the flour, starch, panko, and seasoning.

3. Begin by dipping the wings one at a time in the wet mixture then pressing them into the flour mixture making sure all sides are well coated.

4. Once all of the vegan wings are coated you can pan fry them in oil or air fry them.

5. Air frying instructions: To air fry, place the wings in the air fryer basket. Depending on the size of your fryer, you will need to work in batches. Place a single layer of wings on the tray and give them a spray with oil so the coating doesn’t stick. Fry at 375 for 5-10 minutes (this just depends on how big your fryer is, and how many wings you crammed in there). I always open up my fryer a few times and give it a shake to make sure nothing is sticking. They are done once the coating is crispy and begging to brown.

6. Pan frying instructions: Add a couple of inches of a neutral flavored oil that is good for frying to a medium sized high sided skillet. I use a cast iron. Heat the oil over medium heat until it is good and hot. You can tell if the oil is ready by poking a chop stick or wooden skewer into the oil and touching the bottom of the pan. If little bubbles form around the chop stick the oil is ready. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and place a wire cooling rack on top. Fry the wings in batches for several minutes on each side until crispy and browned. Place the nuggets on the wire cooling rack to allow the excess oil to drip off.

7. Fill a microwave safe bowl the wing sauce and butter. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the butter has melted and the sauce is warm.

8. Toss the wings in the sauce and serve with vegan ranch or blue cheese dressing and celery.

If you like this recipe, then try these:

Vegan Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Vegan Tofu Wings

Vegan Buffalo Mac and Cheese

vegan flank steak